AITUC opposes BSNL move for divestment

Published: Saturday, August 9, 2008, 20:02 [IST]

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New Delhi, Aug 9 (UNI) Opposition to the government move to divest 10 per cent stake in state-owned telecom major BSNL and its initial public offering (IPO) gathered momentum today with All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) dubbing it ''anti-national move''.

The CPI's trade union said the government's worry on BSNL's slow business is merely a ploy to privatise the mega public sector undertaking.

After the Left parties withdrew their support, the UPA government has taken a number of ''anti-worker decisions'' like appointing private mutual fund players to handle huge amount of employees provident fund and now diluting government stake in profit-making PSUs like BSNL, the trade union said in a statement.

The Leftist trade union appealed to telecom workers to join the August 20 nationwide strike to defeat the government move in BSNL.

Meanwhile, National Federation of Telecom Employees also opposed the proposed IPO of the telecom major, claiming it would lead to privatisation and endanger job security and pension of BSNL employees.